The film adaption with screenplay by Guillermo Del Toro and directed by André Øvredal seemed like it had all the pieces together to make a hit horror movie for the early fall box office season, but fails to deliver on what its title promises.
First off, I want to say that I liked this movie. It was a fun story and seamlessly connected several short stories into one. What the film lacked was any true horror sequences which should have come easily given Guillermo Del Toro’s involvement. I feel that this movie succeeded in creating an introduction to horror for teens or even wary adults. The scary moments really just come down to jump scares. The characters are not developed well enough that you necessarily care a whole lot about them which does not help if you are trying to make the audience scared that these characters might die.
Other than the overall lack of scariness in the film, the story is solid. It is nothing special but I did like how there is an overall narrative and these side stories come into play because of the main narrative. This was a very cool and fairly novel storytelling device, but I think it also took away from some main character development.
Overall this film is not a must see for horror fans, but would be a fun viewing for those interested in getting into the genre. There are lighthearted moments and several times when the entire audience laughed. Imagine this as a Stranger Things-like film, not too scary, lots of thriller moments, and because the screen time is short, character development is almost entirely cut.
